Add a little holiday sparkle to your landscape for you and your guests to enjoy. No matter the weather outside, a few decorative touches can greatly increase the beauty and enjoyment of your winter landscape.

Try one, two or all eight of these tips to improve your landscape’s winter appeal.

wning a house on a corner lot sometimes creates a landscaping challenge for a homeowner. Lewie and Robin Pitts of 1329 Somerset Drive stepped up to that challenge, creating a beautiful view from all three easily-visible sides of their yard.

Janesta Williams of Green Gardeners Garden Club and Cecile Flanders of the Lancaster Garden Club enjoyed the view so much they selected the Pitts as the winners of the September Yard of the Month.

An inviting front porch and yard filled with an assortment of blooms and foliage at the home of Tony and Nancy Snipes caught the attention of Sara Phillips, Leaf & Petal Garden Club member. She selected their home, at 1970 Robert H. Kirk Road, as the August Yard of the Month.

“From the white crepe myrtles that frame the driveway to the front plantings highlighting the front porch, this yard is well kept and full of color,” Phillips said.

Psychologists have long delved into people’s memories trying to identify early events that influenced later behavior or choices.

I clearly remember attending a birthday party when I was four years old.

Several games were played and when I won one, the prize was a very small pocket-sized book about trees. All of the pictures were in full color and I spent hours turning the pages, amazed to see flowering trees.

My favorite was one with big white flowers that I now realize was a Southern Magnolia.

Bertha Harris of Catawba will turn 100 years old on Saturday, June 29. On her birthday, devoted family members and loving friends and neighbors from her church community will gather for a day of celebration in her honor from 10 a.m. to noon at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1989 Reservation Road, Rock Hill. The public is invited to attend the gathering.